
You’ve been craving it since you were a kid: chocolate. When you bite into a piece, the sweet flavor spreads in your mouth, bringing a smile to your face and a sense of peace to your heart. Valentine’s Day is coming up, a day to convey your feelings through chocolate. There are many well-known chocolates from international brands such as Godiva, Roy’s Chocolate, and Valrhona, but what about handmade chocolates made by professional chocolatiers? Here are five handmade chocolate shops in and around Seoul.
1. Chocolatique
With a wide range of gift items, Yeonhee-dong Chocolatique specializes in handmade chocolates that are so deliciously sweet that once you taste them, you’ll want to come back for more. In addition to Valentine’s Day, which is the most popular time of the year for chocolates, they also offer seasonal packages for special occasions such as New Year’s Day and Christmas, and you can also find hot chocolate kits with marshmallows. Note that this is a chocolate shop, not a cafe.
📍 17-18 Yeonheumat-ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul (Naver map)
2. Piaf
Speaking of handmade chocolate shops, you can’t miss Garosu-gil Piaf. The limited edition chocolates, which are released only on special occasions such as Valentine’s Day, have a huge fan following and sell out within seconds. Piaf’s chocolates, which are as romantic in appearance as they are in flavor, are also available at Shinsegae Department Store Gangnam.
📍 109, Nonhyeon-ro 175-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul (Naver map)
3. Lederer
With about 150 stores in Korea, the U.S., Canada, Asia, and other countries around the world, Leathera is a Swiss-made handmade chocolate shop that produces all of its chocolates in Switzerland and flies them in once a week. There are so many different types and flavors of chocolates that it’s hard to know what to choose, but if you want to try a lot of different chocolates, try the Fresh Chocolate Set, if you want a luxurious gift set, try the Leather Collection, and if you’re looking for something cute, they even have teddy bears. The store is located in the spacious and accessible Gwanghwamun neighborhood, so you can also enjoy sweet chocolate drinks right in the store.
📍 B1F, Seoul Finance Center, 136 Sejong-daero, Jung-gu, Seoul (Naver map)
4. Choi Chocolate
From the name, it’s clear that Choi Chocolate takes pride in its chocolate. They have a wide variety of products, mainly chocolates in pretty transparent bottles, fudgy and rich brownies, and mousse cakes that are as pretty to look at as they are to eat. The chocolates are reasonably priced, and the gift packaging is very nice, making it easy to show your love. Originally located in Kondae University, they recently moved to Chuncheon and can be ordered through Naver Smart Store.
📍 17-1, Amakgol-gil, Chuncheon-si, Gangwon-do (Naver map)
5. Jongsu Chocolate Shop
A small chocolate cafe in Ilsan, Jongsu Chocolate Shop offers a wide variety of chocolate-related desserts. The signature menu is hot chocolate and iced chocolate, and they also have a variety of other chocolate-related desserts, such as mini churros and mini croissants, bar chocolate with nuts, and cream chocolate for spreading on biscuits. All of the menu items have good reviews.
📍 87beon-gil, Gangsong-ro, Ilsandong-gu, Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea (Naver map)